Precursor Possibility
by ngrey651
Summary: AU. What if the directions of humanity and Irk had been different? Psychic power predicts the worst of crimes on Irk as what was defective and strange becomes Irk's greatest boon, and Earth is inducted into a galaxy-wide peacekeeping corps. Dib Membrane is one such member, on Irk to investigate how it keeps crime at record lows, unaware he's being drawn into a great conspiracy...
1. Welcome to Irk!

_The universe is a fickle place sometimes…you can never know just what to expect. And a single action can change the destiny of so many so fast…_

_It was a Tuesday on two entirely different planets that changed everything for two different races. One of bugs that crawled from the muck, set on a path of conquering and cruelty, the other of lowly apes, confused and scared, looking up at the sky and wondering why._

_Both would have turned out so, so very different if not for two events that changed everything…and it all ties in to the arrival of two different beings._

_One clad in soft, pink light, an odd warmth bathed over the planet of Irk as an odd sensation rose in many of their kind. Children found themselves lifting their toys in the air without their hands. Lovers in an embrace began to hover off the ground as their every thought was shared between them. Light cascaded across the skies of Irk in glorious celebration of newly unlocked power as the people cheered and hollered, dancing on into the night._

_Across the universe, pools of endless light drifted across the skies of Earth as it's denizens gazed in awe at the beings that descended, led by one with wings of the rainbow, eyes as soft as morning light. A lucky, brave few approached, kneeling before the Sun as it smiled its approval, depositing something special into their hands, rewarding them for their courage, their clear and obvious desire to trust so beautiful a being._

_And what a reward it was as cascading light shot into the sky in celebration. The people danced and cheered as their thoughts and hopes became solid form, and they bowed before the blessed beings that had given them such a boon. In a single day, everything about these two planet's histories had changed._

_One at the will of the Entity of Love, who would advance the minds and souls of the Irken race to levels it would have taken millenia to reach…the other to the will of the Seraphi, who had allowed Humanity's Will to be made form…allowing them to spread the Gospel forth across the planet, one of Justice, of Righteousness, of Determination. They knew not fear, and looked to the stars not merely with awe…but certainty. They would soon be ready. And they wished to spread the gift they'd been given to better aid others._

_Irk looked inward, Earth outward…_

_And with this…the future changed._

_Whether it would be for the better or the worse…_

_Would be seen in time._

It was almost hard to make out, but…it was there. A love letter. A cute little thing that Ms. Hali's husband was being read to by the garbageman, having picked it up out of the trash. Poor ol Jamm had just been SO very touched by the little scribble of love he simply had to read it. Holding the letter in his thick-gloved hands, the Irkens antennae bobbed low in the air as Hali's husband raised a nonexistent eyebrow in the air, folding his arms over his black-clothed chest, brow furrowing.

"Dearest Hali-Honey. I love when we kiss. My toes ache for the feel of yours intertwined with mine. Let us meet soon at the Hotel Miyuki, sweet thing. Our special room for a special anniversary. Sincerely and dearly, Devan." Jamm the Garbage Man read out from the trash can which had been brought to the front lawn of Hali's home, Hali's husband's face becoming quiet, subdued…and angry.

"My name is Evak." He finally spoke up.

"…of course it is." Jamm realized, smacking his face as Evak quickly headed for his hovercraft, bringing along a VERY large crowbar he used to normally get the trunk open when just wouldn't pop, his face looking like he wanted to pop a blood vessel. He tore through the streets…tore towards the hotel, SLAMMING into it, shooting through thick metal walls as people went scrambling out of the way and he crawled out of the wreckage, still alive, still FURIOUS, eyes alit with a cold, cruel fire as he held the crowbar up and slammed it into his palm.

His wife and her lover having been tossed to the side of the room, Evak shaking his head back and forth, growling darkly. "You know…today was our ANNIVERSARY…was gonna get a brand new car for you…" He muttered out, holding the crowbar high. "Gonna get you something else, gonna get you something, GET YOU, **GET YOU!**" He screamed out, falling upon her, the crowbar striking once, twice, thrice, her body becoming MEAT, her lover just a flimsy blur that was being knocked across the room as his form was caked in blood that was not his own-

"**NOOOOOOOOO!**" The white-eyed Irken shot up, screaming from his seat, balled antennae stiffening up high as a psychic bolt of pure power shot up from his white-robed from. Tubes connected to the odd x-shaped seat he was in transferred this psychic energy up through the walls, runes inscribed upon the deep black turning bright green as they lit up one by one, finally reaching the end, a single tube that shot up, up into the higher level of the station this Consular was in…

And Zim of the Planet Irk's eyes shot wide, the keyboard around him blaring to life, glowing bright white as he felt the psychic warning surge into him. Quickly he began typing away into the keyboard as his station was lit up by similarly-glowing green lights and a big, determined grin came to his face. He'd caught one nice and early in the morning. Tapping away at one of the many floating display screen that was hovering around his chair as if it was a moon and he was a planet, Zim quickly dragged his claw-digit to the option he wanted: alerting the rest of his Squadron.

"We've got a GOOD one. A twofer who are going to be kept from some…afternoon delight by a bit of grisly murder at the hands of a jilted husband." He announced to the vid screen as it beeped and pinged, sending the message to his squadron, another voice butting in.

"Any news on my pregnancy yet?"

"You've been asking that question for 8 months. No, Tak, no news on the pregnancy." Zim said, rolling his eyes. "We've got work to do. The killer is male. 187 years old. And the victims are his 180 year old wife and her new lover, age 183 whom she met a year ago. They're currently at the Hotel Miyuki and HE'S fifteen minutes from getting read a love letter by a garbageman that'll clue him in to his wife's cheating and get him barreling down the street towards the hotel."

"Oh no. Any collateral damage?" A nervous voice inquired.

"Three dead smeets and their parents, two senior citizens dead and 12 bystanders injured. Let's go save this idiot's future, shall we?" Zim remarked cheerily, clapping his hands as the vid-screens faded away and the chair slid him up into an opened crevasse that widened high above him, popping him up by the space station "Doombringer's" teleportal dock, a large hall filled with capsule-shaped, vaguely silver-esque egg-shaped things, each a teleporting device that shimmered like the bands upon Zim and his squadron's boots and gloves, all a sign of their special importance to the Irken people…

They were the Consular's Chosen. They were the inheritors of the great Entity of Love's greatest gift, that of incredible psychic might. The Consulars saw into the future…

And they acted, bringing swift, divine DOOM upon evildoers.

"What's his name?" Skoodge wanted to know as they all converged in a large group, Zim placing a claw digit on his head, thinking to the information that their Consular had just divulged to him.

"…our killer's name is Evak. Cross reference by wives who are named Hali and their age." Zim ordered Skoodge as Skoodge quickly saluted and tapped his eyeballs, one at a time, a small display screen popping out from them as if he was a video projector, Irken faces flashing in midair before them all before, at last, with a cheery PING it settled on the faces that Zim had seen in the premonition passed on to him. "Yesss, that's him."

"Uh, Zim, one little thing, we're going to have somebody else on our missions today." Skoodge added with a nervous smile.

"Who?" Zim asked, frowning a bit, lips slightly pursed. "Did our Cardinal Consulars want to add more men to my squadron? I mean, who WOULDN'T want to be in the most successful crimefighting unit in the galaxy?" He mused as he put a hand on his chest and proudly beamed.

"He's from the EXEMPLAR CORPS, sir." Skoodge said. "Senior."

Zim IMMEDIATELY blanched, others in the squadron all moaning and groaning, some tugging down on their antennae, others rolling their eyes. "WHAT?! I do not have time for some…filthy _melkremar_ that sold out to the RAINBOW BRIGHT BRIGADE! Have "Captain Hallmark" contact me some other time, Skoodge!"

"Captain Hallmark" heard every word you said, Blow Pop." A voice rang out, faintly friendly but also…slightly condescending. Zim turned around, seeing a form emerge from a shadowed outcropping by a teleportal pod, arms folded across his white-clothed chest, an Irken dressed all in silver and white, a halo-esque crown atop his head. Senior's small cape flowed behind him as he folded silver gauntlets over his well-built chest, spiky antennae hanging high above his remarkably ROUND head as he smiled softly at them. "You're all hard and green on the outside but soft and pink inside just like ALWAYS. Just the mere IDEA of me showing up makes your ego squeal? Really? You can't stand ANYBODY else joining in and getting a slice of the action?"

"MY squadron, MY rules." Zim said with a huff. "You LEFT to join the…**Rainbow Bright Brigade!** He said, waving a dismissive hand in the air. "When you knew OUR methods were so much better-ohhhhh." He smiled a bit. "Have you, perchance, come to beg Zim for forgiveness?"

"No, I'm here to show a friend I've made from Earth how we did things downtown. The Seraphi are considering letting your little project go off-planet…letting you go GALAXY." Senior offered as another person walked towards the room, nervously tugging at his dark jacket color while Zim and the squadron's eyes widened greater than saucers. Being known across the galaxy? Actually getting to halt crime on other planets? The possibilities…the excitement, the fame...the SATISFACTION.

"So how do they do this exactly?" The young human's voice wanted to know as he rubbed the back of his neck, Zim looking him over briefly before nodding at Senior, who held up his clawed, gauntleted hand…his white-ringed hand as an image formed of pure Life energy, a construct, a creation of the imagination brought to life forming before Dib of a balled-antannaed Irken.

"They're called Consulars…beings of **immense**psychic power. They see the crime in advance, we go to the people they specify will commit it and stop them. Nip it in the bud." Senior informed the human as the amber/brown eyed young man adjusted the glasses he wore, pushing them slightly up the bridge of his nose. "Normally they'd see it days in advance, but crimes of PASSION don't involve much planning. No premeditation means we have to catch it on the very day we get the call from the Consulars!"

"How many minutes do we have until this Irken supposedly commits this crime you're talking about?"

"He WILL commit it in precisely…" Zim mentally checked the time. "9 minutes, 40 seconds. Into the teleportal, huuuuman." He said with a bit of a sneer at the "four-eyes", who frowned back at him as Senior helped him into a pod of his own.

"Buckle up!" Senior cheerily informed him.

"Wait, where IS the seat belt on this thing?!" The kid wanted to know as Senior patted his head.

"Aw, that's just an expression!" He laughed, closing the pod up as an odd, tingling sensation shot through the human's body and Dibbun Membrane was sent FLYING, SPIRALLING through a tunnel compromised of a thousand points of light as he hollered and screamed in terror…and excitement.

…

…

…

…**PRECURSOR POSSIBILITY**


	2. Free Will as Folly?

Dib was barreling towards Planet Irk at top speed, howling in terror, flailing his arms about before realizing something.

Specifically, the something that was on his hand. His RING.

He focused intensely as the tunnel of multicolored light continued to send him down towards Planet Irk alongside the Chosen. They had nine minutes to get to their location to stop a would-be murder spree from a man pushed over the edge by evidence of his wife's infidelity. If they didn't nip this in the bud, over half a dozen innocents would die and a dozen more would be critically injured in a horrific bit of vehicular manslaughter as the jilted lover barreled towards where his wife would be meeting her new sweetie-pie.

But Dib wasn't exactly thinking about that. His concern was "PUT UP A GIANT BUBBLE TO PROTECT MYSELF".

And his ring responded in kind. A big glowing green light cascaded over his form, transfiguring into a bubble that perfectly shielded him as the points of light faded away, revealing he was now several miles above the surface, headed for the city limits as the white-clothed Senior fell alongside him, leisurely stretching out, waving his hand. "Heyaaaa."

"How can you be so...liesurely?" Dib asked, blinking in surprise as Senior smiled more broadly, other Chosen falling alongside them towards their destination. "None of you guys have-"

"None of us NEED it." Senior said, jabbing down at the bottom, Dib noticing the gleam of something silver and blue popping up…circles? No, no robotic eyes all staring up, tiny little 'bots all holding their hands up, glowing with a powerful blue light that cascaded up to envelop all of them, and their free fall became a leisurely, gentle easing-down, as if being lowered from off the top of a swing to the ground by the warm hands of a parent.

They landed on the sleek dark purple street, surrounded on all sides by the little robots as their singular antennae atop their heads stiffened, their apparent leader saluting with his tiny little hand, thick, short little legs snapping together. "GIR of the SIR Unit standin' by, always ready and ALWAYS here!...no matter what we wish we could be doing instead." He added with a sort of deep, quiet, rejected sigh, head hanging low along with the other SIR units, none of the other Irkens paying any attention, LEAST of all Zim who just smirked over at Dib.

"You see? Our Societal Infiltration Robots are an invaluable tool. They keep on eye on the petty crimes on the streets like mugging or assaults, we handle the BIG stuff. The IMPORTANT things, human." Zim remarked, waving a hand in the air. "And the General Infiltration Robot is my personally-chosen leader. I knew right away he was the right choice. He shares my love of tacos."

GIR wistfully stared off to the side, as if imagining a taco was there, Dib noticing there was still clear sadness in his eyes. "So they erect…gravitational adjustment fields to help you with your landings? And they stop assaults and thefts in the cities? What else do they do?"

"Nothing besides eating and sleeping when they're not on a eighteen hour shift." Zim said with a shrug. "Who cares, they're just robots." Zim remarked, Senior visibly frowning as Skoodge looked slightly nervously over at another SIR, that seemed to accusingly stare at him. "If any of them ever have an issue with the gravitational field, we activate these." Zim said, pointing at the silver bands around their gloves and boots. "All-Con units. Multipurpose for generating oxygen fields, gravitational manipulation in a force bubble, shielding…"

"AND stylish." Tak added as she jabbed a claw digit at her circlet atop her head, smiling broadly. "We customize 'em if we want…mine has a level of hypnotic suggestion combined with visual creation technology for…certain tricks my beloved is quite grateful at night." She chuckled.

"But no time for that." Zim announced, waving a hand in the air, the orange sky of Irk nearly utterly cloudless. "Close off the road. Get everyone within a half mile radius away from it. You two…you are with ZIM." Zim said, pointing at himself. "We head for the hotel. We'll stop him there." He informed them, pointing down the road at the shiny hotel off in the distance, standing out in faded plight blueink alongside the deep purplish, pink and red buildings all about the East Side of Irk's Capital. Which was, of course, called "Irk" as well.

Yes, they could now see into the future. But the species was, even still, not exactly…creative.

"Mind if WE drive?" Senior said, holding up his ringed fist, focusing intensely as silver-white light shot forth from the ring and enveloped them all in an aura, he and Dib and Zim soaring like white comets towards the hospital as Zim felt up and down his arms, blinking a bit in surprise. "Well?"

"…I admit. I like this tingle." Zim admitted sheepishly, blushing slightly as they finally touched down at the hotel, people poking their heads out of the windows as Zim reached into a belt pouch and held up a tiny machine that appeared to be a miniature speaker. Attaching it to his tongue as he slowly and tenderly opened his mouth and placed the little wafer-thin speaker on it, he curled the tongue back inside, then cleared his throat, Senior quickly putting his hands over his "ear" sections of his head…

Dib soon found out why, Zim's voice BOOMING even more loudly than normal. "**THIS IS THE CONSULAR CHOSEN! THIS! IS ****ZIM!**" He roared. "EVERYONE IN THE HOTEL IS TO COME OUT **IMMEDIATELY**."

"GAH! What the?" Dib groaned out as Zim unfurled his tongue again and took the thin little speaker off, putting it back in his belt as people began to slowly mill out of the hotel, his face beaming broadly.

"Audio Enhancement. A matter of adjusting soundwaves that come out from your mouth to a higher decibel. Integrates directly with your body…QUITE effective." Zim bragged. "Oh but PLEASE, please tell Zim how the Color Calvary is soooo much better."

"Yeah, well, at least I can do a middle finger." Dib said, flicking Zim "the bird" as Zim, recognizing this obvious insult, growled a bit, antennae flattening against his head as Senior quickly snuck in between the two, glancing back and forth.

"Girls, please, you're both VERY pretty, but we have work to do." He insisted firmly, gesturing down the road. "Our suspect will be here in TWO MINUTES."

"Right." Zim said, nodding as he gestured at the crowd gathered outside the hotel. "Go, go, get away from the hotel, let me do my job." He insisted to them with an almost dismissive manner, Senior helping them hurry away to safety as Dib and Zim carefully stepped away from the oncoming path of destruction, Zim tossing something else from his belt pouch out which landed in the front parking lot right in front of the hotel. It was a small, tube-shaped capsule device that was throbbing and hissing, tiny little smoke popping out of the cracks that were forming in it, a button pressed down on its top as Zim grinned a bit, leaning back against a light pole he and Dib were standing under. "Sure hope he buckled up." He chuckled, the car barreling towards the hotel…

And with a THWOOOSH the capsule exploded, a big, giant spider-esque web popping out, tendriled strands ensnaring the car, sticking it in midair as it throbbed back and forth a bit, a loud THA-THUNK coming through the air, Mr. Evak moaning as his face slid down the inside of the windshield.

"Oh, see, we tell people to buckle up. Is it really so hard? Now you've probably sustained neck damage. Well luckily for you, our prisons have got GREAAAAT health care." Zim remarked, cheerily smirking up at the poor Irken as he flopped out of the car and onto the road below, Zim slapping a white, halo-esque necklace around the poor Irken's throat. "You, buddy, are under arrest for the attempted murder of your wife and her lover that was going to take place at this very moment at the Hotel Miyuki."

"When are they going to learn that crimedon't pay?" Dib remarked, seeing Senior coming back with the crowd, the man's wife shamefully looking away along with her lover as Skoodge gently took her by the shoulder, explaining that she was no doubt going to need a lawyer and some counseling sessions which they'd be happy to provide. And luckily for them…

"Prison has got GREAT health care." Skoodge insisted cheerily, putting halos around THEIR necks as well, patting them on the shoulder, almost glaring yet somehow still-blank looks popping up on their slightly vacant faces. "It's not our business if you want to make whoopee in a hotel, but it IS against the law to cheat on your spouse, Ms. Hali. I'm afraid you and Devan here aren't going to be seeing each other for a long, long time…"

"Senior." Dib spoke up, chewing his lip as the cheating couple mumbled a bit, looking off incoherently into the distance. "…I think I'd like to actually SPEAK…to one of the consulars."

…

…

…

…Dib was escorted through the long, steely doors to a hallway that matched, tapestries hanging high by beautifully burning lights, enormous white/silver thrones at the far end of the hall, in a circular room that appeared to be composed entirely of pearl. A well-built, very powerful-looking Irken with soft green eyes shifted his weight slightly in the throne he sat upon, balled antennae bobbing slightly in the air as the golden wristbands he had jingled along with the large, pearly necklace he wore. He wore no clothes besides a pair of pants and the accessories, and chuckled as he looked them over, nodding his head at Senior, then smiling over at Dib, any others upon their respective thrones not getting out of their seats or even turning their heads.

"Was my visitation foretold?" Dibbun Membrane wanted to know as Cardinal Consular Darithil chuckled.

"No, but we just **knew** that the Technicolor Troops would be sending inspectors…and we were so hoping dear Senior would come home." The soft yet…dark, almost ethereal voice of Darithil intoned, glancing over at Zim, who had his arms folded across his chest and was looking…sulky, as Dib could tell, Senior rolling his eyes at this.

"Just ignore Zim." Senior asked of Dib, putting a white-gloved hand on his shoulder, Dib comforted by the warmth of his hand and voice. "You see, "Consular Chosen" could have been Cardinal Consulars, but our psychic potential is more based around enhanced instinct, a kind of knowing what to do just before people are about to do it, or are based around telekinetic powers. For Skoodge, it was telekinetic and Tak, telekinesis, Zim had the instinct, and I-"

"The rare gift of enhanced empathy…knowing what exact emotions others are feeling." Darth finished, nodding in agreement.

"You don't get uncomfortable on that throne?" Dib inquired, glancing to the right and left of the Cardinal Consular, raising an eyebrow up to look at the others. Some of the thrones didn't actually HAVE anybody in there. "Oh, wait. You do shifts?"

"Yes. I prefer this shift, afternoon through the evening, late into the night. Then I shall feed and slumber, rest and relax before my sacred duty begins anew." Darth murmured, focusing as his body was enveloped in an odd, faintly silverfish glow, his eyes glittering with the same light as he hovered over to the threesome and plopped down on his bare feet, walking along with them around the room, gesturing at the tapestries. "All of THOSE represent Cardinal Consulars who have come before, all either died on the job or simply retired when they felt they had become too old to focus their powers."

"Died on the…but I thought you had no murders?" Dib murmured, blinking in confusion as they stopped before a tapestry that showed a cheery pair of Taller Irkens with similar body structures, one of Crimson color, the other more Indigo.

"No, no, you see, the psychic power can be too much for some. Red and Purple here were our latest unfortunate accidents…they functioned better TOGETHER, but there was also a shared risk. They could give us not only visions of places, people, how old they looked, where they were going, they could give us their NAMES, their LIKES, DISLIKES…even their voices occasionally. But it grew too much, and…" Darth trailed off, cringing as he looked to the side, gritting his teeth. "They were found by a SIR unit, one Skoodge likes to use for…incidental things. They were already dead…nothing we could do."

"With great power comes great responsibility…" Senior intoned.

"And great HEADACHES, I mean, their skulls were, like, **blown open like popcorn kernels, I-**" Zim began to say, gesticulating graphically with his hands before everyone's glare shut him up. "…sorry, Cardinal Darth."

"Look, as much as I find the idea of what you do fascinating and…I RESPECT trying to keep your people safe, but the thing is, let's not be kidding ourselves. You're arresting people before a crime is committed." Dib remarked, waving a hand in the air, shaking his head back and forth. "And the punishments seem…lobotomizy."

"You don't get it. I see the future, as do my fellow Consulars, and we've **never** been wrong." Darth said, frowning a bit, looking almost insulted by this sort of suggestion.

"But it's NOT the future if you prevent it from happening, now is it? You're arguing for predetermination as an actual thing that EXISTS, not some abstract concept you read about in a college class!" Dib said, throwing his hands up in the air.

"…hmm." Darth rubbed his chin, then grabbed hold of one of his necklace's giant pearly beads, ripping it off as he psychically hovered the other pieces around, tossing it at Dib, who quickly snatched it out of the air before it hit him in the face. "GAH! What the HELL?!"

"Do it again!" Zim laughed.

"Why did you catch that?" Darth wished to know, a nonexistent eyebrow raised in the air.

"It was going to hit me in the FACE!"

"You're SURE?"

"YES!"

"But it didn't." Darth said with a small smile, wagging a claw digit in the air. "You**caught** it."

"Ohhhh, I get what you're trying to say. The fact we prevent something from happening doesn't change the fact it's GONNA happen, is that it?" Dib asked, raising an eyebrow up as Darth hovered the necklace piece back into place, fixing it on the spot as Senior's lips creased, seeing Dib's concern. "People aren't BALLS, you can have an IDEA of what they're going to do, but you can't be sure. Don't you get that what you've done is basically **destroyed** the idea of free will? Now a criminal could just claim that it's not his FAULT that he does crimes, everything is predetermined, he has no control over anything!"

"Ah, well, we're not so sure about that, because…these guys can't see thefts…or assaults. Or suicides. Or…rapes." Senior admitted quietly, shaking his head back and forth as he folded his arms over his chest and kept his head hung low, spiky antennae flopping about. Darth cringed, resting himself against the wall as he held his head in his hands, gritting his teeth.

"THAT's what keeps us going. We hope that one day we'll be able to SEE those things. That one of us will reach a level of precognition even greater than Red and Purple had together." Darithil intoned softly. "We've got some promising candidates-" He began to say before trailing off into silence and then heading back to his throne. "Well, I think you've seen enough, Mr. Membrane. Be sure to tell your father Matthew that the Irken race wishes him luck on his latest line of-"

It was then that Dib noticed somebody approaching a throne at the far right end of the room. A Vortian with deep pink eyes, ascending the steps to the throne and sitting down, glancing over at them all…smiling a bit at Senior, waving cheerily before resting her head against her hands and leaning back in the throne, humming a soft tune as Senior immediately blanched, Dib glancing over at him in surprise.

"A Vortian is…she's got Irken blood, I take it? A half-breed?" Dib wanted to know. "…is…is she your DAUGHTER? You said your wife was Vortian and she lived on Irk-"

"Yes. That's…that's Nora Nar. She's May and mine. She got tested along with her brothers Bo and Ian for possible psychic potential the same as all the other lil' smeets did and-"

"Scores through the **ROOF.**" Zim muttered, sticking his tongue out in disgust. "Can't believe a half-breed has more psychic power than ZIM!"

"This half-breed can HEAR YOU." Nora snarkily called out, snapping her fingers as Zim's pants **immediately** fell down with a flop to the floor and Zim shrieked, yanking them back up as Darth began laughing at the sight, Dib, however…wasn't so happy.

"It's gotta be hard having your daughter away, here, doing this and…and you're worried what happened to Red and Purple might happen to her, is that it?" Dib quietly asked of Senior as he walked out of the hall with him, one arm over his shoulder.

"We're looking for FLAWS. Anything to show this system doesn't work, **can't** work for the rest of the galaxy. We need to show them OUR way works best so…so nobody has to endure what I've gotta endure every day, dreading the call that my little girl's just been found dead, slumped in a chair with her skull blown open." Senior muttered back in a hushed, conspiratorial tone. "Red and Purple were good at what they did, but they were also cocky and arrogant and selfish a lot of the time. And you SEE how Zim is. These people let…let men like THEM be in positions of power and judging other's lives."

"Not that those other people seem to have real lives, I mean…getting thrown in jail for infidelity?" Dib asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why not just slap them with a fine in a civil court like we do?"

"They've got their own ways, their own machines, their own system. We need to prove our way's better. And we need to do it real soon." Senior whispered back. "…or free will dies when it goes live across the universe."


	3. Dib Membrane, Murderer?

There was never rain on Irk. But there WERE lightning storms that pierced the flesh of the world, digging tiny craters into the ground, sizzling and hissing through the dry, bitter air. And one particularly harsh lightning storm had swelled up around the capital, most people wisely staying indoors. One individual was not, though. No, he was atop the IrkTech Laboratory Building in the Western District of Irk's capital, an audio recorder in one hand as he sat atop the very edge of the roof, lightning illuminating his haggard, thin face.

"I can't stand this anymore. I can't stand myself anymore. And I can't stop what's going to happen. I leave behind no family. No friends. Only this final thought: I'm sorry about what's going to happen to you all. And I hope you appreciate the irony that I had no choice in this when you find out who forced me into doing what I did…what we ALL did."

He put the recording device down, taking a deep breath as he rose up…and then stepped out.

It didn't take long to hit his car below, a sickening CRUCHA-THRUCKK noise echoing through the air, a final lightning crack illuminating his twisted, wrecked form…

…

…

…

…a form which was still there the next day, Dib trying not to vomit as GIR, Skoodge and Zim analyzed the scene. The Consular squad clearly hated playing "catch up" on suicides, Zim was so bored he was picking the Irken victim's left arm up, then letting it flop back down over and over as GIR informed Skoodge about the victim's place of business and doing an analysis on WHEN the suicide had happened given the form of the body-

The body which lost it's arm as it flopped off with a squelchy THUD to the ground, Zim cringing a bit, deciding not to fiddle about with the arms anymore as SKOODGE cracked first, rushing over to the nearest trash can and vomiting into it as GIR cheerily waved at Dib and Senior, who decided no, he wasn't really in the mood for eating that doughnut he had in his hand anyhow, tossing it away.

"Good morning, sirs!" GIR cheerily remarked.

"I hope Zim's not working you too hard?" Senior wished to know, raising a nonexistent eyebrow up as Zim patted Skoodge's back to get him to calm down, GIR nodding his head, but loudly voicing an entirely different opinion.

"Oh, no, absolutely not! I'm just FINE, really!" He said, shaking his head vividly before turning back to the victim. "It's not a very…pleasant sight."

"…Sude DAMN it." Senior sighed quietly. "If only I'd been closer, my ring would have alerted me that someone's life was in immediate danger."

"Your rings alert you to suicides and homicides?" GIR inquired, looking clearly quite interested.

"HIS does. Mine's about Will, his is about Life itself." Dib admitted with a shrug.

"Have you ever…y'know…" GIR asked, waving a suggestive hand in the air for Dib to go on, Dib realizing what he was inquiring about.

"I did try to WILL someone back to life. It…sorta worked but…kinda…um…" Dib rubbed the back of his neck, nervously grinning. "See, uh…that is…"

ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF AGO…

"Well this is a fine how-do-you-do!" Professor Membrane yelled out, he and the rest of the town atop city hall, all armed to the teeth as Dib gulped, pulling at his collar as everyone else glared at him, then at the horde of zombies below, Dib's sister Gaz sighing wistfully as she thought back to just a few minutes ago, when she'd been cutting through Zombie brains and chests to force her way up to the rooftop.

"I love this saw. This saw is part of me." Gaz remarked, hugging the chainsaw, oblivious to the sharp teeth as Dib looked down at the zombie horde as they all glanced up at him, eyes glowing green.

"Come on, Maker. Give us a chance." One zombie inquired.

"For WHAT?" Dib yelled back.

"**_All we wanna do is eat your brains!_**" The zombies sang out.

"We ain't unreasonable! I mean, no one's gonna eat your EYES!" The first zombie remarked with a shrug as every other zombie nodded in agreement, all of them waving their hands in the air, a few of them actually having the limbs flop to the ground with a THUNK, popping off because the arms were barely on to begin with, much of their body eaten away by various animals on the street.

"**_All we wanna do is eat your brains!_**"

"We're at an impasse here, maybe we can compromise!" Another zombie inquired cheerily, Dib sticking his tongue out in disgust.

"I don't think so!" Dib yelled back.

"**_Open up the doors! We'll all come inside and eat your braaaains!_**" The zombies sang out, Professor Membrane finally firing off the rocket launcher he'd brought with him, body parts sailing everywhere as blood splattered on the town hall walls, Membrane sighing as he glanced over at Dib.

"Why couldn't you do something NORMAL with your ring, like just make PUPPIES the way that lovely boy Keef did?" He inquired.

"I was trying!"

"Trying to bring BACK a puppy isn't quite the same. How did that Will even SPREAD through the dead?" His father inquired.

"We could ask the puppy, but it's tongue has rotten out, and I don't think it's much in the mood for obeying commands like "Speak"." Gaz wryly commented.

PRESENT…

"Wow, I'm amazed they let you keep your ring." GIR admitted, gaping a bit before Senior gave him a look.

"GIR, just tell us the decedent's name?"

"Oh. Laih. It was rather hard to ID him because his head was driven up into his stomach." GIR admitted, Skoodge letting out a moan from the trash bin as he finally lifted his head up. "I'd be happy to talk more about his injuries, but I don't want Mr. Skoodge throwing up his own Squeedly-Spooch."

"This is the THIRD IrkTech suicide in as many weeks." Skoodge admitted, letting out a liquidy burp as he covered his mouth, his face even greener than usual. "Oooogh. But they're all different departments and different buildings. There doesn't seem to be any connection."

"There's definitely a pattern here. There's been TWENTY IrkTech suicides this YEAR, after all." Senior insisted as Dib raised up a hand.

"Ah, newbie here? What does IrkTech DO?"

"What DOESN'T it do? They make the facilities the Counsulars use, our vehicles, our weapons, our defense systems!" GIR remarked happily as he pointed at himself and grinned. "And most importantly, they make US!"

"Maybe IrkTech's just a lousy place to work. If I had to sit in a cubicle all day and the only thing I looked forward to was designing a new version of the SIR operating system rather than, I dunno, ACTUALLY STOPPING CRIME…" Zim muttered dismissively.

"Hey, these little guys work really hard for you." Dib insisted, looking a bit annoyed that Zim was being so mean to such a cute, hardworking little robot. It really was hard to dislike the SIR units, they were so adorable and they had such big, cheery cyan eyes that made them instantly huggable.

"Okay, huuuuman. How about you provide us with an explanation for why YOU think these people are killing themselves?" Zim inquired with an annoyed look.

"Please excuse Zim, we consulars don't, ah…really like feeling helpless, and suicides like this are…" Skoodge murmured. "We've still not yet been able to predict any. Though Nora Nar's made it her personal quest to try and see a rape or suicide in a vision one day. She got kinda close once though."

"REALLY?" Senior asked, eyes widening in surprise. "I've been away too long, what happened?"

"It was a murder-suicide. I suppose the connection to someone else's death was what allowed her to see the murderer just as he was putting the gun in his mouth. The vision ended there, but it WAS enough to save them both!" Skoodge admitted with a comforting nod. "Maybe the new generation of Cardinal Consulars will be able to see suicides and rapes on their own, without other connections."

"But nobody saw THIS coming." Zim butted in, waving a dismissive hand. "I've read that Japanese businesses suffer similar losses on your world, human?"

"Their culture is more harsh and rigid than Irk's." Dib immediately insisted, putting a hand on his chest, looking irritated at Zim's blatant belief in stereotypes. "Their teachers are more like drill instructors, they can't help it, there's more stress for them in a variety of ways, more so than many other countries, my own included! Don't you guys have any local history? Like, another time a company started losing employees?"

"ACTUALLY…" GIR spoke up as information began to stream across his eyes, shooting out in a floating little display screen as it showed off various Vortians and other aliens. "There was a case 20 years ago on Vort. The BlueWing Defense Company did defense industry work just like IrkTech does. There was a huge spate of suicides among the RESEARCHERS…only some of them were just MADE to look like suicides, and the company piled blankets on any investigations they could!"

"So the question is…what is IrkTech investigating that's making IT experience this spike in suicides?" Senior wondered aloud. "But they're all different departments, not all RESEARCHERS like with BlueWing Defense Company." He murmured, rubbing his chin in a thoughtful fashion. "I mean, what did Mr. Laih do?"

"Manager. B-Level. He was in the researching department, but the LAST suicide victim was Habi from Contracting and Foreign Asset Scouting?" Skoodge admitted, scratching his head in confusion. "I mean, something does STINK here…but we can't see the piece that's gotten rotten."

"We can't see it…YET." Dib reasoned.

**SHA-KA-THROOOOOOOM!** The top of the building EXPLODED in a pillar of fire and smoke, chunks of roof and walls and shards of windows and body parts flying everywhere as Dib gasped in horror.

"You see THAT?!" Zim gasped out. "GIR! Organize the SIRS, I'm ordering an immediate evacuation of the area! Skoodge and I will direct people away!"

"We're on damage control." Dib announced, clenching his fist, his ring glowing bright green as he shot forward. "I've got this, Senior! You got the quick and the dead?" He yelled back at Senior, who flexed his ringed hand, gigantic construct hands catching falling forms, putting them into a pile nearby.

"I've got 'em, believe me." He called back to Dib. "I'll round them up, you handle the blaze!"

Indeed, the building was burning fiercely, the explosion hard to quell, fire and smoke rising up into the skies as Dib swirled around and around the building, the SIR units responding to GIR's wireless summons, all of them chirping out at once as they shuffled into various nearby stores and homes, quickly moving people as far away from the exploded building as possible. Senior began collecting the dead in a giant white bubble, Skoodge and Zim urging those who were already trying to escape to rally with the others. Dib, in turn, was trying a simple, direct approach to the fire.

Step one…breaking the sound barrier, forming big old plume of water vapor out of the air. And then…step two.

Stop. Dead in your tracks in midair, the bow wave shooting forward like an arrow, the water vapor SLAMMING into the building, and with a quick, powerful THA-SHOOOM…the fire was out, and the building was nothing more than an empty, silent tower, even the smoke slowly dissipating into the air. But that was the easy part. The hard part was what came next.

Dib's father was a scientist. And this meant Dib had grown up knowing about how to analyze EVERYTHING. In fact, how to overanalyze. Looking too deeply into something came naturally to him. Nitpicking, noticing the small details you shouldn't care too much about or you'll miss the forest for the trees-

But there was one detail Dib did notice, which stuck out like a sore thumb as he flew in the air, suspended in his green aura, looking into the wreckage of the building. In a NORMAL explosion, the cause would have been a bomb or gas pipe. But…no, not this.

There, at the center of the explosion, in a crater where everything had billowed out from…was a small tablet with faint yellow letters glowing softly in the light…odd whispers emanating from it.

"It's going to be one of THOSE days, huh?" Dib thought aloud.

…

…

…

…_ "This…this can't be, you…you can't be…"_

_The room…spinning. Everything around him feels distant except the blade at his neck and HIS voice. Not even his own voice feels real to him. Its almost as if it isn't truly happening. None of this feels right. This is wrong, but…he can't quite figure out WHY…_

_Outside the obvious fact that Dibbun Membrane clearly had a sword to his neck and was seconds from cutting him open._

_"You have NO idea…how much I've wanted to do this from the moment I met you. I HATED you and everything you stand for. Your ways will mean the doom of this entire universe. And I wish I could say it wasn't personal, but truth be told…I really do hate your guts." The human remarked, sticking his tongue out and giving Zim a raspberry._

_"You can't be doing this, the Consulars will-"_

_"The Consulars won't see this coming. And this is the good part. You're going to die never knowing why or how this happened." The human snorted. "Trust me though, Zim…I'm doing your species a favor. We'll take good…GOOD…care of your race…"_

_The blade rose up, shimmering softly in the air, Zim's mouth opened to scream-_

"**NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!**" Nora the Vortian screamed out, shooting up in her bed, holding her head, panting and heaving as she flung the covers aside, the consular struggling to get her breath back. Usually they had to be in the great hall to properly focus their powers, that was where their connection to the Entire planet and the shared psychic link could be felt the most. But…but to see this here in her own bed?

It wasn't a dream. It was a true vision. Dib was going to kill Zim. Why would…

Then Nora thought about it…and about her father. She rubbed her chin, resting against the mahogany bedboard as her pink eyes travelled upward…yes. Yes, of course. Her father Senior had been frightened when she'd been revealed to have psychic potential. Frightened about her powers overwhelming her…but also frightened that his baby girl would be a part of "the system". He'd left the planet saying he wanted the freedom to choose to do good, a freedom that wasn't present on a planet where the future seemed set in stone.

So that was why. It was to keep up the illusion of free will?

"So that's it?" She murmured. "You're asking Dib to kill Zim…what, do you think we won't be able to see a murder by a HUMAN coming, is that it? That this'll discredit the whole system, prove it's flawed? Is that it, Dad?...oh, I hope not…I hope that isn't what you're looking for."

"I've **got** it. I know what we're looking for!"

It had taken several long hours of research, but at long last Tak strolled in to the lounge room in the "Doombringer", waving a tablet computer in one hand, beaming proudly as she glanced about at Dib, Senior, Skoodge and Zim. "I've GOT it. The connection. All hail me!"

"Okay, tell us. What's the connection?" Zim asked, tilting his head slightly to the side, pouring himself a cola soda as Skoodge munched on some crackers to keep his stomach settled, Dib and Senior reading copies of "I, Robot" and a novelization of something called "Ultima 6: The False Prophet".

"Mr. Laih was a research office manager. He tasked people. And he tasked people on jobs…specifically, IrkTech job number A11B, broken up between various analysts as per the head honcho's orders. That job was the last one he worked on before he threw himself off the roof. And a few weeks back, another Irken threw herself in front of a speeding car. Her last job?"

"…job A11B?" Senior asked.

"Mr. Hoon, in charge of Irktech Esoteric Technology Research, his last work code was A11B before he blew his brains out. THAT'S the connection. And what IS job A11B?"

"Let me guess…document analysis. Documents that are…say…big black tablets with glowing yellow letters?" Dib inquired quietly, shivering a bit as he thought back to when he'd brought the tablets back, cringing. It had felt like picking up cold organs that had fallen out of someone's body after they'd been left to hang in a tree and had rotted away. "So they had these ancient documents broken up and given in pieces to different sections so not one person sees the whole picture. But enough of them figured it out just by their own work alone, is that it?"

"And it all drove them to SUICIDE…" Senior whispered out, putting his book down and steepling his hands, biting onto his lip. "How old is the text? Did GIR tell?"

"He tried looking at it, then…" Tak shrugged. "He just…shut down. I think his workload's overwhelmed, so I began work on it myself." She remarked. "Haven't gotten MUCH yet. I do know it's at least several thousand years old…and it appears to be gibberish. It reads like Ancient Irken, but the way the words are placed…it doesn't make sense."

"Must be in CODE, then." Dib reasoned. "Don't suppose your race has, say, any legends or anything about odd tablets with yellow glowing text that whisper to you?"

Now Tak looked confused, a slightly stunned expression on her face as she glanced over in his direction, Skoodge and Zim doing the same. "Whispering? They weren't…there wasn't any whiwspering."

"Yes there was, I heard it the same as Dib did." Senior remarked, seeing the other's blank faces before he understood what was going on. "…wait. What's the only thing separating us from you?"

"Those Exemplar Rings you wear." Zim murmured, his eyes going wide. "They're able to communicate with you? What are they saying, these whispers?"

"…it's sort of…gibberish. But…" Dib struggled to find the words he wanted. "It's like…every single word makes no sense, but it FEELS like…like pure malevolence is being hissed into my ear in some dark, foreign language I can't really understand."

"Obviously, these documents are dangerous. I'll order the other SIR units to collect all the ancient tablets and bring them here to us, away from any civilians." Zim suggested with a wave of his hand. "Then we won't need to worry about any other people killing themselves over it."

"But what made the building explode? Saying the text aloud or…" Senior trailed off. "…wait. Maybe that's it. It's some kind of SPELL. A kind of **magic!** And if it IS magic, I know who we can turn to if we want it translated. A team of truly top men." He offered up, everyone looking in his direction.

"Who?" Skoodge asked.

"TOP. Men." Senior insisted with a firm nod.


End file.
